Admiral Giambastiani is due to take up the post of Vice Chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second-highest position in the US military, later this August.

Leading NATO’s transformation

At the farewell ceremony, Admiral Giambastiani was presented the NATO Meritorious Service Medal by the Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General of NATO, Ed Kronenburg.

He highlighted Admiral Giambastiani’s contribution to NATO’s transformation. This includes the stand-up of three new major commands – the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway, Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Poland and the Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre in Monsanto, Portugal – as well as partnerships with industry, academia, and research institutions across the Alliance.

Admiral Giambastiani also played a key role in the development of the NATO Response Force, the centrepiece of NATO’s military transformation.

The post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) was created in June 2003, as part of a landmark restructuring of NATO’s military command structure.

One of NATO’s two strategic commanders, the SACT is responsible for promoting the transformation of Alliance militaries in order to ensure NATO's forces are trained and structured to meet the challenges of today’s new security environment.